Construction International News - December 2012
Structural Tests Follow Japanese Tunnel Roof Collapse
Posted by Paul Fiddian - Construction International Reporter on 03/12/2012 - 07:05:00
Japan's road tunnels now face structural examinations after a tunnel roof collapsed near to Tokyo with fatal results on 2 December 2012.
The Sasago tunnel roof's failure killed nine people and, according to initial reports, it seems that loose metal rods, setting free concrete panels, was the cause.
The Sasago tunnel collapse happened at around 0800hrs yesterday morning and it's been reported that close to 150 of these concrete panels dropped. Each of the panels was almost eight inches thick and weighed over a ton. Three vehicles ended up completely crushed and it was these incidents that yielded the fatalities.
Japanese Tunnel Collapse
As a result of the Japanese tunnel collapse, the Sasago structure has been sealed off for now.
This was the most severe accident of its kind to have occurred in Japan since the mid-1990s. The last time a tunnel collapse like this happened, falling rocks crushed one bus and a number of cars, with 20 fatalities ultimately recorded.
The emergency tunnel inspections will be carried out on some 40 structures with the same features and built around the same time as the Sasago tunnel. According to Japanese press reports, this particular tunnel - constructed in 1977 at a location on the Chūō Expressway 80 kilometres west of Tokyo - hadn't had anything more than visual inspections for over three decades.
Tunnel Structural Tests
With the tunnel structural tests now occurring, a key part of the follow-up investigation also taking place will be trying to discover why, when the Sasago tunnel was last looked-at in September, nothing was flagged-up.
"The prime minister ordered the transport ministry to put the utmost efforts to rescue victims, to quickly investigate the cause of the accident and to establish measures to prevent similar accidents and to provide a counselling service to victims", Osamu Fujimura - Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary - today told media representatives.
"Based on the fact that the accident occurred 35 years after the tunnel was completed, we believe ageing was the reason", Central Nippon Expressway's CEO, Ryoichi Yoshikawa, stated in comments quoted by Sky News.
Image copyright MWE - Courtesy Wikimedia Commons
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